Patchwork
by Izzy Montague
Summary: Tony has discovered a very interesting project. What he does with it, is up to him, if Pepper lets him keep it.


The thing, as Tony assumed, stared quietly at him, as he stared at it. He couldn't even tell if it was a she or a he. It had long black hair, and a slightly feminine face, so he assumed it was a she. Bruce was on his way over to help him with her. Her eyes were sharp, and full of life, despite the fact she was literally leftovers from some of The Leader's minions. It's skin was sewn together, and the stitches were pretty thick. She had black, tan, white, even green skin, just on her face. One of her eyes were yellow, and the other was red.

"Can you talk?" He asked. She shook her head. "But you understand me?" She nodded, as Bruce walked in. He stopped, and stared at her.

"I...Wow, you weren't kidding." He said. She cringed slightly, as if to hide from Bruce.

"Don't worry, you can trust me." He assured. She looked to Tony.

"He's cool, kid. He's going to help us figure who the hell you are, Patches." Tony grabbed a water bottle.

"Patches?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"Look at her! She looks like she's a just a bunch patches sewn together."

"Hideous." She pipped up. Tony and Bruce looked at her. "I thought you couldn't talk."

"Hideous."

"Okay, you can say one word. That 's better than I expected." Bruce shook his head, and tried to put a blood pressure cuff on her arm. She scooted away from him. "Please, hold still. We need to see if your healthy." He said gently. She gave Tony a wide eyed look, and he nodded. She held out her arm slowly, and he checked her. "You seem generally healthy." Tony grabbed a needle, and while Patches was watching Bruce carefully, he slid it into her arm. She cried out in pain.

"It's okay!" He grabbed he to hold her still. "I'm just doing some blood work, that's all." The vile attached to the needle didn't fill with red blood like suspected. It was black.

"Holy shit, Bruce."

"What? Your BP is 101/65. You seem fine. Now, what- Oh." Bruce looked at the vile. Patches tilted her head slightly.

"Why is it black?"

"I don't know." Bruce took the vile, and placed it in a tube. "let's test it, and see."

"Sir, I believe it's black because of all the different types of, i suppose, people she was built from." JARVIS said. Tony nodded. "So she is a girl?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay. One problem down. Next one. How the hell do we take care of her? She can't talk, i guarantee she can't read or write, and she sure as hell can't make sense of anything normal. What do we do?" Tony thought aloud. Bruce shrugged. Patches simply hummed contently on the table.

"Might i suggest first warning Ms. Potts? She is on her way down, sir."

"Shit, Patches!" She looked up. "See that closet over there?" She looked, and nodded. "Get in it." She obeyed. Pepper opened the door as the closet shut.

"Hey, Pep." Tony grinned. "What's going on?" She asked. "Is someone...?" The CEO pointed to the closet.

"Honey, I need you to know, I love you, and I'm not cheating on you, if that's what your worried about." Pepper nodded slightly, looking relieved. "I found something. Remember how I was telling you about some weirdo named The Leader?" "

Where are you going with this, Tony?" Pepper was obviously getting fet up.

"Well, I went to his lab, ," Tony made his way to the closet. "But I found a project he was working on, and I kind of stole it." "

What do you-" Tony opened the closet. Patches stared at Pepper. She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Pep, this is Patchwork. She's the Leader's project I stole." The creation smiled at Pepper. "Oh, and if she calls you hideous, it's only because that's the only word she knows."

"Oh my God, Tony..." She walked over to her. "How did he- Was she- She's alive."

"I don't quite get what he did either, but apparently, he did it well, because look at her eyes. He said not even five hours ago, she was an empty corpse."

"She's so-"

"Alive. I know. Bruce and I trying to figure out how the hell he did it, because she needs to be taught how to act, and I'm hoping," He motioned to the stitches on her face. "She can heal, and seal so those go away." Patches furrowed her eyebrows, and ran her tongue over her teeth.

"P..p-p-p.. .Pat-...Patch-...Patches?" She tried. Tony grinned.

"Hey-hey! You can introduce yourself! Good job!"

"Patches!"

"She seems to be able to learn." Bruce pipped up. Tony nodded, and Pepper smiled at her. "

Nice to meet you, Patches. I'm Pepper."

"Tony?"

"Yeah?" The inventor turned to his scientist best friend. "How do we tell the rest of the team?"

"Shit."

"Tony!' Steve called. He had been summoned over to the genius' home, for something about a possible new teammate. Tony and Bruce couldn't hear him as they were down stairs trying to clean up the mess Patches had made when Tony had tried to dress her. After realizing she is insanely strong, they told her to go get dressed in the clothes Pepper had bought. Patches wandered out of the room that Tony had given her. She strolled through the kitchen, wearing the shirt and shorts she had been given, but no the shoes. Patchwork decided she didn't like shoes, and thanks to her display of muscle, that was okay by Tony.

"Tony, where- Holy crap!" Steve exclaimed, stumbling upon Patches. She shrieked, seeing Cap. He backed up quickly. Tony rushed upstairs at the suggestion of Jarvis. "What is that thing?" He asked, pointing at the girl. She was cowering underneath the sink.

"Steve, this is Patches." He gently ushered the girl from her hiding spot. "Cap's a nice guy Patches. He's my friend."

"What the hell is Patches?" He asked, still shocked. "Umm...Did you ever read Frankenstein?"

"Yes."

"Him, except real and a her." Tony explained. "She's really shy, and VERY strong. Almost stronger than you. Just, be nice, please? She's only a few days old." Steve held out his hand, in an attempt to be polite. Patchwork stared at it, until Tony grabbed her hand, and placed it in his. "Shake his hand." She stared at him confused. Tony made the motion with her arm.

"I'm Steve." He introduced. She nodded.

"Patches." She grinned. Her teeth were white, and pointed, but Steve kept awkwardly smiling.

"Nice to meet you." He breathed. She let go, and skipped out of the kitchen.

"Cap-"

"If Pepper broke up with you, building a new girlfriend wasn't the way to go." He fired off.

"Pepper and I are fine! Besides, I found her. The Leader built her-"

"Then SHIELD-"

"Will have nothing to do with her."

"Tony. It'll be better for her." The Captain urged.

"No. I can't do that. I want her to able to function, not just grin and say 'Patches.'" He explained. tony grabbed the bottles she had knocked over in her mad dash under the sink. "She's sweet, and I really think she just needs to be taught."

The Leader was frantic. "I want her found!" He yelled, glaring angrily at his subordinates. "Tony Stark has taken my greatest achievement, and I want it back. She was built to kill, not be a servant to that bafoon!" His blood pressure rose with his voice. The subordinates cringed.

"Sir?" One dared.

"What?"

"I think I can find her for you." Patches sat in the living room, relaxing as if she was a normal teenager. She looked about 19, and her hair was probably the most normal feature about her. Steve was still dumbfounded that Tony had managed to help this girl. He was telling her to sit up right, or she would pass out, because she obviously enjoyed hanging upside down. Her long, mismatched legs were slung over the back of the couch, and her head touched the floor. According to Tony and Bruce, she was a fast learner. Patches could already speak eleven words. She could say Tony, Bruce, Patches, Pepper, OK, yes, cold, hot, tired, bye, and blue. That was her favorite color. In fact, her shirt was blue.

"No!" Patches giggled. Scratch that. Twelve words.

"Sit up right. I guarantee your dizzy." He snapped. Tony's patience was wearing thin. Pepper walked into the room.

"Patches, sit up right." "Okay, Pepper." She did as she was told. Tony groaned.

"So you listen to Pepper and not me?"

"Yes." She giggled harder. Tony threw his hands up. Steve chuckled, and sat next to her. She scooted away.

"Sorry, I forgot you were shy." He whispered. She moved a little closer.

"Sir, Ms. Romanov is here for the Captain." Steve got right back up. Natasha strode in, followed by Clint.

"Who is that?" They asked in unison.

"Patches." She said. Unfazed by the girl, they smiled.

"Nice to meet you." Natasha said. Clint nodded.

"See, if you don't freak out, she doesn't." tony said sarcastically to himself. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Ready cap?" He nodded, adn the trio left. Pepper came back down stairs, wearing pajamas.

"Pep, it's date night." Tony complained "I was going to tke you out-"

"And Can we really leave Patches alone? Bruce has a life outside of the lab, Tony." Pepper patted a seat next to her.

"Let's stay in, and watch a movie with Patches." He smiled softly, understanding that Pepper was finally accepting the girl as if she was their daughter. Tony didn't know if he was that close to her, but she fit in with them despite her unusual appearance.


End file.
